While most modified motorbikes are adorned with tattoo motifs using an airbrush, The Recidivist is unique because its wheels, tank, seat and rear fender are completely covered in tattooed skin. This was achieved by engineering the bike with light colored leather similar to the color of human skin. Polish tattoo artists Tomasz Lech and Krzysztof Krolak then spent a whopping 250 hours inking the bike, using the tools of world-famous supplier Cheyenne Professional Tattoo Equipment. The project was commissioned by Game Over Cycles.

“This is by far the most complicated bike we’ve constructed so far,” the Polish company posted on their Facebook page. “To tattoo the bike is one thing, but to include the construction elements that draw from the look of tattoo machines and make them fully operational units was some challenge.” They also added that the theme of the Cheyenne Bike relates to the traditional relationship between motorbikes and tattoos.

“In the USA, bikers used to tattoo for personal reasons – to express their character and lifestyle – as well as their social attitude,” they explained. “The Cheyenne Bike as an artistic vision references those traditions and through its construction and decorations presents a story of a man with strong character – a person, who values individuality, personal expression and sense of freedom.”

They’ve also incorporated this theme into the core of the bike’s mechanics. “Bikers often tattooed using self-made machines and in reference to this, the bike’s front suspension has the look of a traditional coil tattoo machine,” they wrote. “The motorcycle’s construction will also include other elements that draw from the look of tattoo machines. All of these parts still being fully operational elements of bike’s construction, and the mechanisms of these elements will operate in the same way as they do in the original tattoo machines.”

Lech and Krolak, who played an equally important role in the The Recidivist’s creation, said that they are very pleased their work. “We are, both of us, very proud that we did it,” Lech said. “I usually prefer to get human skin, so it was a first time and probably last time on cow skin.”

“I like that it arouses emotions,” said Game Over Cycles owner Stanislaw Myszkowski. “Some people say it’s great, some don’t like it and others have even different opinions. It’s just a vehicle, a simple vehicle that is supposed to bring you from A to B, but it still rouses emotions. This is amazing.”

The unique motorcycle was displayed at Germany’s Custombike Show earlier this month. The show is one of the largest exhibitions of modified motorcycles in the world. The Recidivist was met with huge appreciation and it even won an award in the ‘Best Paint/Airbrush’ category.

There’s more to the animal portraits painted by Florida-based artist Shannon Holt than meets the eye. If you look carefully, you’ll notice the canvases are actually human bodies contorted into just the right position.

The expert body-painter spends between 6 and 12 hours instructing the models to adopt the right stance and painstakingly painting every little detail of the animal she brings to life through her art. After experimenting with various mediums, Holt decided the skin was the perfect medium to express her talent. “The body was the final surface I tried before I decided skin was the key to making my work successful,” she said. “I love it because it happened automatically and beautifully with no planning – it’s a perfect creative example of how cool body painting can be. It can transform into two different images with the repositioning of the model’s arms and hands.”

Even though body-painting art is ephemeral in nature, Shannon says that’s what she loves about it. “It’s here and then it’s gone,” she told the Daytone Beach News Journal. “It’s kind of like ourselves — we’re here on the Earth and then we’re gone, and it’s beautiful.”

British make-up artist Jordan James Parke adores Kim Kardashian so much that he spent a whopping $150,000 on cosmetic procedures, just so he could look like her. He has undergone over 50 surgeries including botox, lip and cheek fillers, eyebrow tattoos and laser hair removal.

Jordan revealed that he became obsessed with the star of reality TV series Keeping Up with the Kardashians after watching just one episode. “I love everything about Kim,” he said. “She’s the most gorgeous woman ever. Her skin is perfect, her hair, everything about her.”

After all his surgeries, Jordan does appear to be an exaggerated version of Kim – a look that has brought him quite a bit of criticism. But he isn’t too bothered because he actually seems to like the way he looks now. “I laugh when people try to insult me by telling me I look plastic or fake,” he said. “Do they think I’m going for a natural look? If I was, I’d ask for my money back.”

“I’ve never felt better about myself,” he added.

In fact, Jordan is far from finished with altering his looks. Next on his list is a nose job, and he wouldn’t say no to increasing the size of his lips either. “I’m addicted to lip fillers. The bigger, the better. Whenever I see a new procedure, I have to try it. I’m in the clinic so often, I get a discount. I do borrow money off my family. But I have worked hard, in sales and at a health club.”

Jordan tries to emulate Kim in other areas as well – he recently splurged on the star’s favorite vampire facial. The $700 cosmetic procedure involves blood being drawn out of the body and injected into various points on the face. Jordan has also spent over $90,000 on designer clothes and bags from Prada, Chanel and Louis Vuitton.

He obviously spends a lot of money on his unique lifestyle, a habit he learned from his mother. “I grew up with my mum who would spend the last pound in her purse if she wants something. Now, if I want it, I have it. My mum also likes to buy me things, which I am very grateful for. I am a little spoilt, I have to admit,” Jordan accepted.

Valued at a staggering $550,000 the Calibre R822 Predator is undoubtedly the most expensive belt buckle in the world. Curious why it’s called the ‘Predator’? Well, its Swiss creators say they chose the name simply because it “eats up every other belt buckle out there!”

The Calibre R822 Predator weighs 145 g, and is made of 18-carat solid white gold and titanium. It is adorned with 387 baguette-cut and round-cut diamonds, amounting to a total of 14.15 carats. But what makes the world’s most expensive buckle really special is its intelligent and innovative design. The mechanical buckle is made of 167 components, making it very similar to a high-quality, complicated Swiss timepiece.

It comes loaded with a host of high-tech features such as self-cleaning mechanisms and safety catches to minimise accidental release. Its ergonomic design enables the wearer to close the belt with ease and also loosen, tighten and change out the leather belt effortlessly. However, the $550,000 price does not include the belt. You’ll have to buy that yourself.

The super-expensive men’s accessory is being offered by Geneva-based men’s luxury brand ‘Roland Iten’. The company website states that “Operating the Calibre R822 buckle is a veritable tactile pleasure, and it offers a simple, one-handed adjustment for two positions – looser, for driving or sitting, and tighter, for walking or playing sport.”

“It is equipped with 16 (two rows of eight) self-cleaning track wheels that guide the ardillion slide precisely and securely, while a sprung ball bearing tensioner and dampener ensure smooth operation,” they added. Only three exclusive Predator buckles will be manufactured by the company, ensuring that if you buy one, you’re not likely to see it around your neighbor’s waist as well.

Inspired by the mechanical age of the aeroplane and the steam engine, founder Roland Iten is famous for creating the world’s first complicated mechanical belt buckle in 2003. He explained that he wants to make products that are beautiful as well as functional. “When you know too much, you don’t ask the questions which can ultimately break through the obstacles of the product engineering process,” he said. “I’m the guy next to the engineer telling him, ‘it will work,’ all the time he’s telling me ‘it’s impossible.’”

“It’s really a very intimate way to make a product,” he added. “Then comes the considerable refinement phase – sometimes it takes six months to put back the elegance which was in the original design.

For those who cannot afford the Predator, Iten also makes an entry-level buckle called ‘Raptor’ – which will set you back by a measly $60,000.

Indian taxi driver Harpreet Dev is well-known in his hometown of Bhatinda, Punjab, for his amazing reverse driving skills. The 30-year-old has been driving his cab in reverse for the past 11 years. Harpreet is so used to it now that he says he doesn’t trust himself to drive forwards anymore! He even has a special government license that allows him to drive backwards in any state in the northern part of India.

Harpreet’s passion for reverse driving started in 2003, when his faithful Fiat Padmini got stuck in reverse gear late one night. “I was outside the city, I had no money, so I thought of driving the car backwards until Bhatinda,” he said. “Then I drove backwards and later on I gained confidence.”

That’s when he realised that he was really on to something, so the next morning he painted the words ‘Back Gear Champion’ on the side of the car and redesigned its gearbox to have four reverse gears and only one forward.

After years of practice, Harpreet can now comfortably drive backwards at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. An ambulance siren attached to the top of the car warns unsuspecting drivers and pedestrians about his peculiar driving. “I take all the care I can to protect the other drivers on the road,” he declared proudly.

“I always wanted to do something different, something unique,” he added. “In simpler terms I reversed the complete gear mechanism of the car so that I get maximum speeds while driving backwards.” In 2005, Dev drove backwards all the way from Rajasthan, India, to Lahore, in Pakistan, to promote peace between the two countries.

Sadly, Harpreet’s dream of making it into the Guinness Book of World Records shattered when he learned that a person named John Smith, from the UK, had already pulled off the stunt. In order to break Smith’s record, Harpreet had to produce non-stop video footage of his reverse driving, and he was unable to do so.

Harpreet’s bizarre driving habit won him fame in his home town, but has had some negative effects as well – he now suffers from severe back and neck problems. “I do have pains in the neck – frequent pains in the neck – and I have had severe vomiting in the past,” he admitted. “I have got a severe backbone problem from driving so fast in reverse, because my whole body gets contorted.”

But Harpreet believes that it has all been worth the while. “Achieving something special is never easy,” he explained. “It is not giving in that counts.”

When a recent study revealed that expectant mothers want more empathy from their spouses, the executives at Aima maternity hospital in eastern China came up with a wonderful idea – ‘Pain Experience Camp’. The camp offers fathers-to-be the chance to experience the pain of childbirth by giving them electric shocks through special pads placed on their bellies. The shocks simulate labor pains by causing muscles to spasm.

The painful service was started in November and over 300 men have signed up for it since then. In fact, the response has been so overwhelming that in addition to free sessions twice a week at the hospital, Aima has opened a pop-up booth at the local Shi Mao shopping mall. Each session lasts about five minutes, during which a nurse gradually raises the intensity of the shocks between a scale of one to ten.

“By the time you get to 10, you really can’t even tell the difference between the pain of 9 and 10,” said Mr. Ning, who recently put himself through the camp to express solidarity with his pregnant wife, 28-year-old Gao Yingjing. Her husband’s obvious discomfort didn’t seem to bother her one bit. In fact, she was spotted nodding her head in approval.

According to Aima general manager Wu Ningxing, several pregnant women are actually quite pleased with the camp’s services. “Why do women hate their husbands so much?” he jokingly asked. But the simulation does seem to be relevant in China, where men have long been favored in society. Chinese women say that although they are encouraged to enter the workforce, their share of workload at home continues to be the same.

So the sessions provide men a glimpse into the pain that women go through during childbirth. Wu Jianlong, who dared to withstand the pain right up to level 10, actually yelled out in pain and clenched his fists, finally begging the nurse to stop. Later, he said that the experience had altered his perception of childbirth. “Because all women have children and it usually takes quite a long time, I had thought of it as something really natural, something really normal that they can get through,” he explained.

Not all men were as strong as Wu, though. “It felt like my heart and lungs were being ripped apart,” said Song Silong, who made it to level 7 before asking for the system to be turned off.

“It felt like my bones were being broken,” one guy said. Another man described the experience as a three-part sensation – hot steel balls dropping on his stomach and then a hook gouged into him, followed by the ripping of his innards.”

Several men dropped out within minutes, at levels 4 or 5, unable to tolerate the pain.

But nurses on duty say that the simulations don’t actually match the torment of actual childbirth that often goes on for several hours. A woman in labour could experience pains up to level 12, they explained. “Still, if men can experience this pain, then they’ll be more loving and caring to their wives,” said nurse Lou Dezhu.

And it seems to be working – Physics teacher Zheng Weitao said that before the simulation, he would only help his pregnant wife if she asked. But then she heard about the simulations and suggested he go through the experience, believing that it would create a stronger bond between them. The session had a profound effect on Zheng – he developed a new appreciation for his wife. He now comes home right after work rather than spending time with his friends. “Now, even before she wakes up, or even thinks of it, I have water – even honey water – waiting for her,” he happily declared.

“Before, he would only do the housework out of courtesy,” said Ren Yiqun, Zheng’s wife. “But after he did the pain camp, I feel that he really can’t bear to let me do any work.” Mission accomplished!

After nearly a decade of trying to manage public urination in a busy nightclub strip, Australia’s Gold Coast City Council finally hit upon an idea – temporary outdoor urinals. The loos are primarily aimed at drunken men who tend to relieve themselves in front of businesses and in alleyways. But the ingenious solution has sparked disgust among locals, who find the urinals ugly and offensive.

According to councillor Lex Bell, these urinals are the only way to manage the problem of public urination that has plagued Cavill Mall and Orchid Avenue in Surfer’s Paradise, southeastern Queensland. Authorities simply do not have the manpower to fine all the people who urinate in public in these areas and don’t have the authority to arrest them.

“We cannot arrest such people – we don’t have the power, so the thought was if we put urinals in places where the inebriated people have to stagger past, they may well use them. When people are staggering from nightclubs, they won’t seek out public toilets – even if they are there,” he explained.

“We’ve had drunk people urinating in shop fronts, on windows and all over footpaths for a long time now,” he said. “It’s a seasonal issue for us, obviously becoming worse during this time of year. I don’t like the urinals either but they are less offensive than the alternative.”

On December 19, the council erected two blocks of portable loos, which are designed for use by up to three men at a time. Ever since they were installed, the council has come under severe criticism from Gold Coast locals.

“Merry Christmas from Surfers Paradise,” wrote resident Richard Holliday, who took to Twitter to express his dissatisfaction. “Disgusting public loos greet millions of visitors and residents. At every level they are grossly wrong.”

“Surely in the 21st century we can come up with better ways of dealing with issues like that,” said Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek.

“Who wants to have a pee while other people can stand around looking at them,” added business owner Russell Murphy, who has been running ‘Odditorium’ in Surfers Paradise for the past 23 years. “I think it will encourage voyeurism.”

“I’m actually in disbelief. I thought when I first saw it that it was some sort of Photoshop joke. It’s unhygienic and visually unappealing,” said Orchid Avenue business owner Craig Duffy. “They should get rid of them immediately before Christmas and New Year. The more

tourists who see that, the more damage will be done to the brand of the Gold Coast.”

Bell also revealed that many people were concerned about the design of the loos. So the council is now having bigger shields installed, which will provide full-length coverage to the body. “The urinals will only be operating between midnight and dawn so during other times they will be locked so people can’t use them,” Bell added. The smell of urine around the urinals also sparked complaints from passers-by, but authorities are yet to reveal a solution for it.

The $5,500 installations were originally intended to be a three-month project, but public reaction has forced the council to end the trial soon after New Year’s Day. “We will look at things next week and if the trial is found to have not worked, we will pull them entirely. If they are successful, then we will give it a bit longer. Boxing day will be the big test,” said Bell.

Believe it or not, the hospital at National Institutes of Health in Washington now has a fully stocked bar! Well, don’t worry, the bar is fake and all the bottles are actually filled with colored water. The whole setup is a part of an experiment to test the effectiveness of a new anti-drinking drug. The dimly lit replica bar is designed to amplify the alcohol craving of test participants in order to determine if the pill is able to counter the urge to drink.

“The goal is to create almost a real-world environment, but to control it very strictly,” said Dr. Lorenzo Leggio, lead researcher of the project. He revealed that the pill contains a hormone called ghrelin that is believed to increase appetite for food and perhaps inhibit the desire for alcohol.

NIH’s bar lab is one of about a dozen other versions in the US that are focused on experimenting with ghrelin. The hormone is produced by the stomach, and controls appetite via receptors in the brain. Researchers have discovered an overlap between receptors that fuel overeating and those that encourage alcohol cravings in the body. Dr. Leggio is now involved in testing whether blocking ghrelin’s actions also blocks those cravings, using an experimental drug that was

originally developed for diabetes but never sold.

Studies suggest that about 17 million people in the United States alone are affected by alcohol disorders, but only a fraction of them receive treatment. There is no single effective therapy, because different people respond in different ways, depending on their genes. Some people respond well to drugs that contain naltrexone, which blocks alcohol’s feel-good sensation by targeting brain receptors. Others respond better to pills with acamprosate, which appear to calm stress-related brain chemicals in certain people.

“Our hope is that down the line, we might be able to do a simple blood test that tells you if you will be a naltrexone person, an acamprosate person, a ghrelin person,” said Dr. George Koob, director of NIH’s National Institute of Alcohol Abuse. He also suggested that a recovering alcoholic needs a combination of several factors to be able to finally change habits.

Hyperrealistic paintings are always awe-inspiring, and the works of German artist Mike Dargas are no exception. His precise paintings are so rooted in reality that it’s easy to mistake them for real-life photographs. In his artworks, the 31-year-old artist from Cologne depicts human models in a plethora of emotions – lost in thought or internal conflict, or simply relaxed and radiating a heavenly grace.

Mike has been painting since childhood, and developed his talents by later attending art school. He worked as a tattoo artist in his early twenties, and eventually opened his own studio in Cologne. Inspired by artists such as Dali, Breton and H. R. Giger, he began to experiment with surrealism and realism.

His paintings slowly evolved, and he mastered the technique of creating photorealistic portraits that evoke a sense of intimacy. He usually replicates photographs of human models – male and female, young and old, beautiful and dark, fragile people.

A devoted pet owner in England recently spent nearly $500 on a complicated surgery to save the life of his favorite goldfish. The unnamed man rushed his fish to the Toll Barn Veterinary Centre in Norfolk, when he noticed that it was struggling to eliminate waste. After a thorough examination, the staff at the center informed him that a delicate surgery costing £300 ($460) was required to save his pet. The man declined at first, but he soon changed his mind and 10 minutes later, the goldfish was wheeled into surgery.29-year-old vet Faye Bethell was given the task of performing the 50-minute procedure, which involved carefully administering anaesthetic and using tiny instruments to carefully remove lumps from the fish’s backside. She said that the three-inch fish made a full recovery after the operation, but it could have died if left untreated.

“The issue was the fish couldn’t poo and it would have eventually become toxic and it would have died,” she explained. “I have never done a procedure like that on a goldfish, although I have done it before on more valuable fish like a carp. The actual surgery is quite straightforward but administering the anaesthetic is quite complicated.”

The carefully-measured anaesthetic was introduced into the fish’s water, and then removed from its tank and placed on a waterproof drape. Anaesthetic water was then inserted into its mouth via a tube and bubbled over its gills. A miniature heart rate monitor was used to check that the fish was properly sedated before removing the ‘lumps’ with a tiny scalpel. Once the procedure was complete, Bethell sewed each cut with three stitches and used a special glue to cover and

waterproof the fish’s scales.

While goldfish can live up to 10 years, this ailing pet was only two years and 10 months old at the time of the operation. Hopefully the little fella’s bowels will remain healthy and he’ll get to live to the ripe old age of ten!